Farmers at a meeting learning about available resources. Photo: USDA, Flickr Creative Commons

FSA County Committee members play a critical role in FSA options, often making decisions about FSA farm programs at the county level (i.e. what kinds of programs will be offered in their country). Committees are made up of farmers and ranchers that participate in FSA programs and are elected by other producers in their county.

The nomination period for county committee elections opened June 15th and runs through August 1st. Newly-elected committee members will take office on January 1, 2018, meeting once a month over a three-year term to make decisions about disaster programs, conservation programs, emergency programs, and other important agricultural issues.

Farmers and ranchers may nominate themselves or others, and organizations that work with beginning farmers, women farmers, and minority farmers can also nominate candidates. Candidates must participate in an FSA program and live in the area where the election is being held. You can request nomination forms from the local USDA Service Center or obtain them online at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/elections.

All nomination forms for the 2017 election must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by Aug. 1, 2017.

What: Today, a significant portion of livestock, poultry and other crops are being raised under production contracts. But production contracts can be complicated & confusing. How will a contract affect the future of your farm?

This webinar will help farmers, advocates, and law students understand production and marketing contracts for contract growing: the benefits, the risks, and the legal considerations.

The 2017 Census of Agriculture is coming up! Conducted every five years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), the census, to be mailed at the end of this year, is a complete count of all U.S. farms, ranches, and those who operate them.

The Census of Agriculture provides critical information about agriculture in our country, including numbers of farmers, land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures, and other topics. This data is then critical for helping to shape policies, services, and assistance programs that benefit family farmers.

Producers who are new to farming or did not receive a Census of Agriculture in 2012 still have time to sign up to receive the 2017 Census of Agriculture report form by visiting www.agcensus.usda.gov and clicking on the ‘Make Sure You Are Counted’ button through June. NASS defines a farm as any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year (2017).

This guide is designed to help you understand production contracts – and to help identify the questions you should consider as you decide whether contracting is right for you. At the end of this guide you will find a list of other sources of information about contracting, including the USDA website, which may help you decide whether contracting makes sense for you and your business.

A new study, funded by USDA, and led by Syracuse University, New York University, the Pennsylvania State University, and the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) seeks to examine local and regional agricultural production and intermediated markets.

The study will examine the opportunities and risks of four main marketing opportunities for farmers—direct-to-consumer, direct-to-institution, direct-to-retail, and selling to intermediaries (such as distributors or food hubs), who in turn sell the products as local food. We are interested in all farmers’ perceptions of these markets, whether currently selling to these markets or not.

The survey has several intended benefits for farmers, including the identification of technical assistance and information needs to help scale up farms for marketing to intermediaries. A national outreach and technical assistance program, conducted by NCAT’s ATTRA Program (National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service) will be developed based on the results of this research.

The survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. It includes questions to gather basic information about your farm, production, and marketing practices, and your technical assistance and training needs.

AgrAbility is an organization that works to enhance the quality of life for farmers and ranchers with disabilities. They work on helping farmers find gainful employment in production agriculture, gain access to appropriate assistive technology needed for work and daily living activities, and more.

Join them for the 2017 AgrAbility National Training Workshop from March 20-23 in Knoxville, TN. This event is the premier training event addressing issues of disability in agriculture. It brings together professionals and consumers from all over the country to participate in educational sessions, breakout groups, tours, and networking events. For more information, visit the event website

The guide is available in hard copy and digital formats, and helps farmers assess and compare different welfare certification programs. In addition to comparisons of different certification programs, the guide presents case studies of other farmers who have integrated welfare certification into their businesses. And, most importantly, the guide shares unique funding opportunities that support farmers in transitioning to welfare certification.

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Save the date for the 13th Annual Good Food Festival & Conference! The Good Food Festival & Conference is a celebration of the Midwest’s growing local food economy. The event will connect farmers, food producers, investors, trade buyers, policy makers, activists, families and Good Food lovers over three dynamic days.

Who?This conference will bring together service providers, policymakers and advocates working on land access, farm succession, conservation, beginning farmers, tenure arrangements, and farm landowners.

What?This national conference will explore the issues surrounding land access, tenure and transfer. Topics include:

The conference will bring together farmer veterans, as well as the organizations that support them- from government agencies to nonprofit groups. Participants can attend workshops on all aspects of farming, as well as visit other farms in the area.

Here are the details:

WHEN: November 30 – December 2

WHERE: Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center at Michigan State University ( 219 South Harrison Rd. East Lansing, MI)

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About the Resource Spotlight

This blog shines a spotlight on some of Farm Aid's favorite resources, tools and other timely opportunities for family farmers and farm advocates.

Also be sure to check out the rest of Farm Aid's Farmer Resource Network, to search through our online directory of farm service providers nationwide, read about some of our farmer heroes, or contact Farm Aid staff for direct assistance.